


I'm Your Captain

by EagleInFlight



Series: Words Fail [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuban Lance (Voltron), Family Reunion, Lance & Keith (Voltron) Friendship, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Returns Home, Lance (Voltron) is reunited with his family, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance and Javier, Lance and his Mama, Lance's family is a badass!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EagleInFlight/pseuds/EagleInFlight
Summary: **SEQUEL TO WORDS FAIL**Summary: It'd been four years since Lance has last been home. Four years of war, of pain, of home-sickness, of fighting. Today is the day he'll see the shores of Varadero Beach, he'll receive his mother's bone-crushing hug, he'll see his big family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and he'll see his brother who he left on bad terms with.  Only...they can't know he's a Paladin of Voltron.This was not the family reunion Lance expected.But it was everything he needed.





	1. Closer to Home

**Author's Note:**

> SEQUEL TO WORDS FAIL: If you have not read this fic, I strongly you recommend to read that first as Lance's family and backstory is covered there and needed for the full emotional impact while reading this fic.  
> I'm back!! After writing Words Fail, I've been eager to write a reunion between Lance and Javier, I feel like there was so much to be covered and healed between them. I also wanted to give Lance the hug he deserves from his Mama! <3 I tried to be realistic and think of how the reunion would take place. I don't think it would be that easy for them to return home. Alright. I'm done rambling. Please go read the first chapter and tell me how you like it!

  

_Though I'm feeling mighty sick_

_I've been lost now_

_Days uncounted_

_And it's months since_

_I've seen home_

_Can you hear me, can you hear me_

_Or am I all alone?_

_If you return me_

_To my home port_

_I will kiss you_

_Mother earth_

_\--Grand Funk Railroad_

 

* * *

 

     Javier remembered the day his family got the phone call.

     He’d just finished his shift of coaching the middle school swim team and had walked through the front door of his family home to find Mama standing in the middle of the room, the phone on the floor.

     Voices garbled from the earpiece on the other end, and he heard the booming laughter of Uncle Gustavo in the kitchen with Marisoa and her kids. The smell of steak fajitas were forgotten.

     He’d seen that look on Mama before.

     In the hospital, standing over Papa’s...

     “Mama?” Javier called out, setting down his gym bag.

     She didn’t say anything. Her eyes were faraway, hands pressing against her chest.

     He swallowed a lump and took a cautious step forward as if approaching a skittish prey.

     “Mama?”

     Her eyes slowly rose to meet his and suddenly, they filled with tears. “Oh, Javier...it’s...” She dropped to her knees.

     “Mama!” Javier rushed in, scooping his hands under her armpits to keep her steady.

     Marisoa and Uncle Gustavo rushed into the room.

     “Mama? What is it?” Marisoa cried out.

     Javier glanced down at the phone and motioned to it with his head.

     Uncle Gustavo picked it up. “Hola? Ay! Quick that yabbering, I can’t understand you when you speak so fast in these godforsaken things.” He stepped away from them.

     Javier refocused on Mama. His stomach felt like lead. “Mama?”

     Her breath hitched out in cracked sobs. “It’s...Lance...oh my hijo. My precious hijo.”

     Javier lost his breath. He raised his gaze to meet Marisoa.

     She covered her mouth, though it didn’t conceal her gasp. She joined them on the floor. “Mama. What happened? What did they...”

     “No,” Mama cried out. “Noooooo.” Her long cry echoed and she began sobbing hysterically.

     Marisoa grabbed Mama and hugged her. “Mama. Oh, Mama. It’ll be okay.”

     Javier rose unsteadily to his feet, watching the scene play. His body felt heavy, yet at the same time he felt as if he were floating. White swirled into his vision as his heart pattered hard.

     Uncle Gustavo approached them, face stricken.

     “It was the Garrison...Lance is...there was a terrible training accident and...he’s...presumed dead.”

     Marisoa shook her head yet before she could respond, Mama released a heart-wrenching sob and Marisoa refocused on consoling her.

     “It’ll be alright, Mama. It’ll be...”

     A hotness filled Javier’s belly, melting away the heaviness in his body.

     “Selfish bastard,” Javier spat.

     Uncle Gustavo snapped his head toward Javier, blinking away his own tears.

     “Papa gave up his life to save him, and Lance easily throws it away...in a fucking TRAINING ACCIDENT?” Javier yelled.

     “Javier!” Marisoa snapped. “Not here.”

     Her kids slipped into the living room, eyes wide. “Did something happen to Lancey-Lance?”

     Uncle Gustavo stepped forward, gripping Javier’s shoulder. “Listen to me, your brother...”

     “Shut up,” Javier snapped. “Don’t you dare defend him! Don’t you...”

     He yanked out of Uncle Gustavo’s grip and stormed out the front door.

     “Javier!” he yelled. “Javier.”

     He slammed the door behind him.

* * *

 

     “Last one in is a rotten egg!”

     Javier watched as the two little boys on the beach screamed as they raced toward the ocean shore. They shoved at each other, and tossed sand at each other’s face as they raced to get to the beach first.

     He blinked as a puff of smoke swirled in front of him, distorting his sight of the two boys. He flicked his gaze over to Abuela whose smoking habit increased after Papa died.

     She inhaled another drag and blew the smoke into his face.

     He resisted the urge to cough. He always hated it when she smoked.

     “A training accident, huh?” Abuela said.

     Javier nodded. He turned his attention back to the beach and winced as the sunlight bounced off the waters and flared in his eyes.

     She scoffed. “Good riddance.”

     His heart thumped.

     _Good riddance?_

     “I told Estvez that he was too soft on Alejandro. He gave up his life for that ungrateful little brat, and what does he do? Go off and get killed in a pathetic training accident.”

     Javier said nothing. Usually he agreed when she ranted about Lance. But...

     _Good riddance?_

     A sharp scream pierced the moment and Javier jerked as he saw one of the little boys crying for help in the waters. There was no sight of the other.

     His old lifeguard instincts took over and he stormed for the beach, leaving the deck of his Abuela’s beachside house.

     The scrawny boy noticed Javier and pointed at the ocean below. “Jax isn’t coming up! I can’t find him!”

     “Where...”

     “Save my brother!”

     Javier caught the panic in the boy’s eyes, and it took him back to that moment, where he saw the same panicked expression in Lance as Javier hung off the edge of the cliff, Lance gripping his wrist so hard that it left a bruise for weeks.

     _“Thank me for working out.”_

Javier dove into the waters, opened his eyes under the surface and searched. The salt pricked at his eyes and they burned. He caught a dark figure. He returned to the surface, inhaled a mixture of fresh air and a few gulps of salt water before he dove back under.

     There.

     He found the other boy and dragged him back up to safety.

     He treaded the waters, and placed Jax roughly on the beach. Before he could start compressions, the boy started hacking up water.

     His brother approached his side. “You dummy! What were you doing?”

     Jax grinned. “I beat you at ‘who can hold our breaths the longest’.”

     His brother smacked him. “I thought you died! Don’t do that again!”

     Jax squeaked in alarm as his scrawny brother hugged him. He glanced up at Javier in shock, not completely understanding his brother’s worry.

     Javier rose back up, chest rising and falling as he watched the scene.

     “Look at you, the noble hero,” Abuela said as he returned to her deck. He stood behind the railing, watching as she rocked in the rocking chair, puffing out another wave of smoke. Water dripped from his drenched clothes, from his wet hair.

     “Good riddance?” Javier snapped, and the hotness in his belly exploded. “Good riddance?” he screamed. “That’s my brother you’re talking about there! That’s...”

     “Don’t take your grief out on me,” Abuela snapped. “You know the truth as well as I do.”

     “The truth was that Lance saved my life back then, he nearly died saving _my_ life!”

     _Damn it, why did I care about that stupid medal?_

_Why didn’t I..._

     “Do you know the last thing I said to him?” Javier said.

     Abuela dabbed her remaining cigarette in the ashtray on the side table next to her.

     Javier stepped back, his entire body trembling as he remembered the day they dropped Lance off at the airport, the snide remark he gave Lance as his younger brother slipped out of the van. “I called him a selfish asshole, and that I was ashamed to be his brother. I told him he would be nothing but a crappy cargo pilot and put Papa’s memory to shame.”

     Abuela cocked a brow. “And? Are you feeling guilty of telling the truth?”

     Javier blinked, surprise to find that he was crying. He touched the tears and stepped back as a strange pressure built upon his chest. “I...” He glanced down at his shaking hands. “What kind of an ass am I? Who...”

     Abuela rolled her eyes. “That’s the grief talking. You’ll return to your senses when it passes. We were right about him.”

     _Good riddance._

Javier remembered the thumbs-up Lance would give him when Javier returned home with a date. When Lance would toss his head back and released a cheer when Javier finished a swim meet. When they would race each other on the beach, kick puddles at each other when it rained, the sleepovers when they were kids, and the stupid ghost stories Lance would tell.

     _Good riddance._

     “He’s my brother,” Javier said.

     “He _was_ your brother,” Abuela sneered.

     Javier looked at her, he finally looked at her. Que diablos. Was she always this ugly?

     “You’re the abomination,” Javier found himself saying before his legs took off, running far, far away from her.

     Something he should’ve done a long time ago.

* * *

 

      “Thought I would find you here.”

     His knees sank further into the dirt as Javier twisted his head back to find his uncle approaching. He returned his attention back to his papa’s headstone.

     “I remembered teasing Lance about getting manicures with the girls in the family. I told him that he should be wearing a dress to fit the part. Papa got angry with me. He told me that Lance and I were different, yet we were still brothers. He needs me, just as I need him.”

     Javier bowed his head into his hands. “I need him, Uncle Gustavo, I need Lance...”

     “Do you believe he’s gone then?” Uncle Gustavo said.

     Javier raised his gaze and glared at him. “I refuse to believe that he would die in a training accident. My brother? Who works twice as hard as anybody? Who swam at the crack of dawn and after school?” He shook his head. “They’re lying. They have to be.”

     Uncle Gustavo smiled. “Good.”

     “Good?” Javier quickly got onto his feet, ready to give his uncle a verbal beating.

     “I didn’t like what the Garrison told me. It sounded too rehearse, too careful. I put in a call to one of my buddies at Galaxy Corps.”

     Oh. “What did he say?”

     “Lance and two other cadets were involved in a hush-hush situation at the site of space-ship crash outside of the Garrison a few days ago. He wasn’t able to give me much, but he was able tell me one thing.”

     Javier held his breath as Uncle Gustavo leveled him with a serious look.

     “Voltron.”

* * *

 

_Four Years Later_

* * *

 

     “This is a bad idea,” Lance muttered.

     “This was _your_ idea,” Keith snapped back.

     “Don’t throw that back into my face,” Lance argued.

     A beat.

     “And don’t roll your eyes at me!”

     “You can’t even see my face!”

     “You’ve become predictable, Samurai.”

     Someone cleared their throat behind them.

     Lance and Keith jerked and spun around in surprise.

     Kolivan stood there, glancing between them with fond exasperation...or fond annoyance? Or perhaps both.

     Lance scratched underneath the purple mask of Marmora. He was dressed in their combat outfit, the shoulder guards weighing down and making him slouch a bit.

     While he wasn’t exactly an official member of the Blades of Marmora like Keith was, they deemed Lance to be an honorary member.

     He asked Kolivan about why the Blades of Marmora trusted him so much. Kolivan had told Lance that they never had an outsider who trusted them so much that they supported them and their cause as well as including them at peace talks.

     Lance still didn’t understand why they still made him member. Keith told Lance to suck it up, it’s what happens when you’re a man of honorable character. Keith had been pretty smug and crude about it at the time.

     “We are almost to the drop zone. You two will jump out in 100 ticks,” Kolivan said.

     “Thanks, Kolivan,” Lance said. “I appreciate the help.”

     “It is you I have much thanks to give,” Kolivan said.

     Lance felt his cheeks grow warm from under the mask. He still wasn’t used to type of respect and appreciation from others. Sure, he could take star-struck fans, because it was easier to play along with them and goof off.

     But to have higher-ranked and experienced fighters respect you...that was something else entirely.

     “You’re overthinking again,” Keith muttered.

     Lance huffed out a breath, and still didn’t understand how his breath didn’t make it harder to breathe under a mask with no holes.

     “Keith...” Lance writhed his hands together. “What if they already moved on?”

     “What are you talking about? From what I’ve seen, and heard of them, they’re going to be happy to see you."

     “Yeah...I disrupt their lives, only to leave again in like five minutes to go fight in a war?” Lance groaned. “I can’t do that to them! And remember what Shiro said? I can’t tell them the truth! I have to lie to protect them!”

     Keith reached out and grabbed Lance’s shoulder. “Shiro has his reasons. The less your family knows, the better.”

     Lance scoffed. His stomach rolled and lurched, and suddenly he felt like Hunk, wanting to expel his stomach contents. Wouldn’t be a good idea to do it in the mask.

     Que diablos. He wanted to go home and see his family as a Paladin of Voltron, not as...member of the Blades of Marmora.

     Four years, and as much as the Paladins of Voltron and their allies made a vast improvement in liberating the galaxies and strengthened their fight against the Galra Empire, it was a war that didn’t seem to have an end in sight.

     Sure Zarkon and Haggar may have been defeated, but their son, Lotor, was a crazy manipulative bastard who was a worthy successor. However, the Galra Empire was in disarray, with several fleets and forces becoming rogue.

     A few fleets decided to head to Earth. Thankfully, Voltron and their allies were able to stop the Galra fleets before they were able to conduct too much damage to Earth. The Galaxy Garrison took quite a beating.

     However, that meant Voltron was now a household name across the globe. Fearing the Paladins’ families safeties, Shiro decided that the Paladins who met and greeted with the United Galactic Nations shouldn’t be any of those from Earth.

     Allura was the only true Paladin who attended those meetings. She went as the Blue Paladin. Coran went as the Yellow Paladin. Slav went as the Green Paladin (which made Lance happy, he imagined Slav’s constant worries and remarks causing Iverson’s blood vessel to burst in his head. Man, he wished he’d been there to see that). Nyma (he considered her and Rolo to be their Han and Chewbacca ally) went as the Red Paladin.

     The sad thing was: this switch wasn’t supposed to protect their families from the threat of the Galra Empire. It was to protect them from their own government.

     How screwed up was that?

     Lance chewed his lower lip, a habit he picked up as he tried to overcome his lip quivering.

     “Lance?” Keith pressed. “Look, man, I know you’re freaking out, but you’ve been homesick for what? Four years? You deserve to see them. More than _anybody._ ”

     Keith was right. He hated it when Keith was right. This time, the knots in Lance’s stomach loosened.

     “Thanks for coming with me, man. I couldn’t have done this alone,” Lance said.

     “We’re the dynamic duo leaders, remember?” Keith said and Lance could hear the fondness in his voice.

     Dynamic Duo Leaders.

     Hunk had given them that nickname three years ago when Lance and Keith got Voltron out of a near-disastrous mission. Their teamwork saved the team, as well as five planets.

     Was it only three years ago?

     Lance still got nightmares from that time.

     “Yeah, I’m the better-looking one,” Lance teased.

     “Right, and I’m the smart one.”

     “Hey!”

     “Twenty Ticks,” Kolivan interrupted.

     Lance reached down to ensure his bayard was attached to his belt. He reached out for Blue’s comfort and felt a wave of affection flood through him.

     He could be miles away, and still feel her.

     A warmth collided into his mind and a roar of encouragement rang in his ears.

     Red and Black.

     He still thought himself as the Blue Paladin, even though he flew Red and Black now.

     The past few months, Black let him be in charge.

     He had the support of the Lions. They wanted him to see his family.

     They know how much he wanted, and needed to see them.

     Lance clenched his fists. Why was he so scared? He inhaled a breath, but his hands still trembled. His stomach still tightened.

     He glanced over at Keith, knowing there was another way to calm himself down.

     Lance grinned, knowing that Keith couldn’t see it. “Race you to the bottom?”

     Lance knew Keith smirked back. “Please. I’ll be feasting on a whole basket of garlic knots before you catch me.”

     “Ten ticks,” Kolivan shouted, opening the bottom hatch of the ship, white clouds zipping underneath. The wind screamed around them.

     “Ha. I’ll have five rolls of unagi sushi already prepped and made for you before you reach me.”

     Their banter always eased Lance’s jitters before a fight.

     Before a nerve-wrecking event.

     “Now!”

     Lance leaped down through the opened hatch, diving past the clouds, and through the bright blue sky. He smiled at the sight of the sun peering down onto the bright blue ocean ahead. His body whirled toward the destination near the ocean: the shore of Varadero Beach.

     Home.

     Lance was going home.

 


	2. Of Knots and Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It'd been four years since Lance has last been home. Four years of war, of pain, of home-sickness, of fighting. Today is the day he'll see the shores of Varadero Beach, he'll receive his mother's bone-crushing hug, he'll see his big family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and he'll see his brother who he left on bad terms with. Only...they can't know he's a Paladin of Voltron.
> 
> This was not the family reunion Lance expected.
> 
> But it was everything he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay!!! Had a big move, new job, and visits with the family. I finally got to writing the second chapter. It's a bit shorter than usual, but hey, I needed to spoil you guys with something!! Thank you for your patience, your sweet reviews and kind support. <3 Hope you enjoy the next chapter! And have a great Thanksgiving week!

_Can you hear me, can you hear me_  
_Or am I all alone?_  
_If you return me_  
_To my home port_  
_I will kiss you_  
_Mother earth_  
_Take me back now, take me back now_  
_To the port, of my birth_

_\-- I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home by Grand Funk Railroad_

* * *

Lance inhaled the salty air, its scent bringing a warmth in his chest despite the cool wind skimming off the ocean. He dug his boots further into the sand and allowed a smile to form on his face.

     Seagulls cried as they flew past him and Lance watched them descend toward the waters, diving for food. Waves crashed onto the rocks down the shore and Lance listened intently to them as if there was a secret message to be deciphered.

     Tears welled in his eyes.

     He had nearly forgotten the smell of the ocean air, and with it came all his childhood memories, both good and bad, surfacing within his mind.

     “Lance?” Keith whispered softly behind him.

     The waves crashed.

     Lance scanned his gaze across the ocean. Sunlight was sparse as it was hidden behind the gray clouds. Rain threatened to fall and Lance prayed that it would.

     He was surprised by the clouds and looming rain. It was usually bright and sunny this time of the year.

     “I think it’s a bit too cold for a dip in the ocean,” Keith teased.

     Lance turned his head back, glancing over his shoulder at Keith. “Don’t be such a farm boy, Keith. The water is always warm.”

     He caught sight of the familiar shack, overlooking the cliffs. “Gustavo’s pizza shack,” Lance whispered. “Come on!” he called out to Keith.

     They rushed up the beach, and when they reached the boardwalk, they stomped the sand from their boots, yet Lance could feel some under his socks. He smiled. Maybe he’ll bring a bit of home with him when he left...again.

     He forced the future despair from his mind and walked up the wooden stairs for the shack.

     He wondered why he couldn’t smell the garlic knots yet, his nostrils always caught the sweet aroma, even on the beach.

     Lance froze as his gaze caught the entrance several feet ahead. There were boards nailed across the doorway with a sign that read: _Out of Business._

“What?” Lance exclaimed.

     Keith reached Lance’s side. “What is it? Oh...”

     Lance stared at the sign in shock. When did this happen? Were the owners okay? Where did his family eat now for their big gatherings?

     For years, he dreamed of coming home and bringing the paladins here and have them discover the amazing garlic knots. He dreamed of eating those garlic knots. He...

     Lance clutched his fist and sighed.

     He wasn’t the same. Why was he so naïve to believe that _home_ would be?

     A hand gripped his shoulder and Lance turned to Keith. “I’m sorry, Lance. I know how much this place meant to you.”

     “It...was the place Papa always took us. After he died, when I needed a part of him close to me, I would come here...and...” Lance glanced at the roof, stained with bird poop. How many more connections to Papa must he lose?

     “Your family is still here, Lance,” Keith said.

     “Yeah, what if they changed as well?”

     “It’s been over four years,” Keith said. “I think they have.”

     Lance’s heart twisted. As much as he didn’t like it, he appreciate the truth from Keith. He inhaled a breath of courage and turned his gaze toward the other boardwalk leading up the hill, toward the town and neighborhoods.

     His hands trembled.

     He’d wanted nothing more than to see his family again.

     Now it was the most terrifying looming event. He’d rather face Haggar again than go through with this.

     Why?

     Why was he thinking that?

     What did he truly fear?

     “Lance?”

     Lance broke out of his thoughts, watching the various strands of sunlight pour onto the boardwalk.

     “Come on,” Lance said as he bounded up the second flight of stairs, heading for his town.

* * *

 

     Instead of going down the main street of his neighborhood toward his house, Lance led Keith the back way, because the last thing they needed to was attract attention to themselves.

     Lance ran through a bundle of trees, ignoring the one path that would take them to the cliff where his father...

     He pressed on and began to slow his trek as he neared his house.

     Was it still his house?

     Pidge had checked to ensure that the family still resided there before Lance and Keith took off. It was still registered under his mother’s name.

     Lance’s heart pounded as they neared his home, the bundle of trees growing thin. Sounds of laughter pierced his ears.

     He froze.

     Keith gripped Lance’s arm and dragged him further. They hid behind two tree trunks and peered around it.

     A large party was occurring in Lance’s backyard. Strings of light stretched over a porch, one that was in the process of being built when Lance left for the Garrison.

     He caught sight of his younger cousins, as well as his niece and nephew playing cornhole close to the trees he and Keith hid behind.

     Wow. They’ve gotten big! They had to be, what five, six now?

     Lance’s lower lip quivered as it finally dawned on him how much he missed.

     He missed their first day of preschool.

     He missed the terrible twos and the constant questions of curiosity.

     Would they remember him?

     They were so small last time Lance saw them.

     Lance caught a whiff of jerk chicken and his stomach rumbled. Something else pricked at his nostrils, something familiar, yet the chicken was too overpowering.

     He scanned the crowd, filtering through the close neighbors, the great-aunt-and-uncle whose names he never remembered, past...

     He inhaled sharply.

     Mama.

     Her hair had grown grey, yet she wore it with pride. She’d gotten a bit rounder yet her smile was still contagious and bright.

     Lance broke into a smile, feeling like a kid again.

     Next to his Mama, he saw Marisoa smacking her husband playfully on the chest as he quipped a joke. His sister’s hair grew longer, and she wore nicer clothes now.

     Uncle Gustavo’s raucous laughter boomed over the chatters of the others and Lance’s smile grew at the sound.

     He couldn’t find Javier, Abue, or his cousin Alondra. He assumed they must be in the house preparing the rest of the food.

     He sighed, content.

     They were okay. They were safe.

     They moved on.

     “Okay,” Lance said, taking in the sight and trying to commit it to memory. “Let’s go.”

     Keith’s head snapped toward Lance. “What?” he whispered harshly. “You’re not going to going to say hi?”

     Lance shook his head. “Look at them, Keith. They’re happy. How can I ruin that?”

     “Oh, for once, can you stop thinking about other people and think about yourself?” Keith snapped.

     “Please, I always think about myself,” Lance teased.

     “I mean, we came all this way, came this close, and now we’re going to leave with our tails between our legs? You get in there, Lance!” Keith’s voice rose.

     “Damn it, Keith, I...”

     “Who’s there?” one of the kids said as they approached Keith and Lance.

     Lance spun toward one of his cousins or some relative he didn’t know. Some four-year-old boy.

     Lance held up his hands and put a finger to his lips. “We’re not...”

     “AH!!!!” The kid screamed as he seemingly got a good look at them. “ALIENS!”

     Lance gapped. Aliens? He wasn’t one, though Keith was partially one so he was going to blame this on Keith.

     Lance ducked back behind the trunk as panic commotion filled the party behind them.

     Keith shook his head and headed to grab Lance. “Oh, no you...”

     A laser beam grazed the trunk in front of Keith.

     Both Lance and Keith squeaked.

     Keith ducked back behind the trunk.

     “Dios mio!” Lance cried out.

     “You didn’t tell me your family were gun-friendly!”

     “We don’t have guns!” Lance shot back.

     “Show yourself, you space bastards,” Uncle Gustavo bellowed out. “Or I’ll blow up those trees you’re hiding behind.”

     Keith and Lance glanced at each other and widened their eyes.

     “Your insanity runs in the family!” Keith snapped.

     Lance glared at his friend before he stepped out from behind the tree. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

     Most of the party members were pressed near the house. Uncle Gustavo stood ahead of the rest, a strange-looking space gun trained at Lance.

     “Give me one good reason not to shoot,” Uncle Gustavo snarled, leveling his barrel.

     “What?” Lance cried out. Didn’t they recognize him?

     “Take off your mask, you stupid idiot!” Keith yelled as he stepped out from behind the tree, knife in hand.

     Oh. It was still on? He’d thought he taken it off.

     Uncle Gustavo stared at Keith, as if he were someone familiar.

     “Wait,” Marisoa exclaimed. “I know those uniforms! They’re the Blades of Marmora.”

     They knew that?

     Mama came in front of Uncle Gustavo, placing her hand gently on top of the gun and slowly lowering it. Her eyes were wide and full of hope. She took a step forward. “Lance?”

     Lance blinked at the tears threatening to spill. A mama always knows her child, didn’t they? He clicked the button to remove the mask and he felt it flicker and vanish.

     Mama covered her mouth with a gasp and then stormed across the yard for him.

     Lance chuckled fondly and cried out in happiness as Mama’s arms wrapped around him, squeezing him.

     “Oh! Oh, my Lance! Oh!” Mama exclaimed and she suddenly broke down crying.

     A sob erupted from Lance’s mouth, of sadness and joy. The years he’d yearned for his mother and suddenly having his dreams fulfilled. “Mama,” he cried out, embracing her in turn.

     They hugged and cried for several moments. Mama stepped back and cupped Lance’s cheeks with her hands. “You’ve grown so much.” Sadness flickered across her eyes and she trailed an old battle scar alongside Lance’s left eye. “Too much, it would seem.”

     Tears continued to spill onto Lance’s cheeks. “Mama, I missed you so much. I...”

     “Stop hogging the boy!” Marisoa yelled as she slipped between Mama and Lance to give the latter her own hug. Lance laughed and was full of overjoy in finally hugging his older sister.

     “Lancey-Lance!!” her kids exclaimed, hugging Lance’s side.

     Lance laughed and hugged them with his right arm with his left still around Marisoa.

     He broke apart from them, laughing and crying at the same time. He glanced up at the sight of Uncle Gustavo, beaming with pride.

     “Lancelet, my boy!”

     For a brief moment, Lance pretended that Uncle Gustavo was Papa and took in the fatherly-hug. He inhaled the scent of tobacco and vanilla. The smell brought him out of the small fantasy, reminding him he was embracing his uncle and mentor.

     “Uncle Gustavo,” Lance greeted. “You nearly blew my head off.”

     “Wouldn’t be a family reunion without some death threats, am I right?”

     Lance chuckled. He had to agree with that. He stepped back and wiped at his cheeks, seeing the other members of the party wishing to greet him.

     Before that, he gestured toward Keith. “Mama, guys, this is Keith, he’s...” A fellow Paladin, a comrade-in-arms. “my best friend.”

     Keith sheathed his knife and awkwardly waved his fingers. “Uh, hi, I...ahem...”

     “Get in here,” Mama said and delivered Keith her bone-crushing hug.

     Keith’s eyes widened and his gaze locked with Lance. They softened and Lance had to smile when Keith returned the hug.

     “Lance!” Alondra rushed through the crowd, carrying a toddler on her hip. “It really is you!”

     Soon Lance was drowned in a horde of his extended family members, next-door neighbors, and old friends.

     He got the sense of someone watching him and Lance glanced up toward the deck.

     Javier stood there, mouth slightly agape.

     Strange emotions filled within Lance. Feelings of nostalgia, he missed his brother. And yet, fear filled within him. Fear of disappointment.

     Lance opened his mouth to speak, to greet his brother when his Great-Aunt...oh that’s right...Esperaza blocked his view of Javier. He returned the hug and went on to greet the rest of those anxious to see him.

     When he finally had a moment to glance back toward the deck, Javier was gone.

    

 


	3. Need to Hear You Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is back with his family, yet he discovers heartbreaking news, and is reunited with the one person he desperately needed to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!! <3 Thank you all for reading, for your wonderful comments, reviews, and just being a super fan. I cherish each one of you and am grateful that you guys took the time to read my created work and to encourage me and cheer me up. It means so much to me.  
> Here's the next chapter!!! Wooooo! Boy, I struggled with this one. It was SO hard! Urgh. I'm not entirely satisfied with the finished product but I liked the ahem particular reunion. ;) Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think! <3

_Been far away for far too long_

_But you know, you know, you know_

_I wanted_

_I wanted you to stay_

_'Cause I needed_

_I need to hear you say_

_"I love you_

_I've loved you all along_

_And I forgive you_

_For being away for far too long”_

_\--Far Away by Nickelback_

* * *

 

     “Abue...passed away?” Lance wheezed out in shock.

     A heavy pressure grew in his chest and he turned away from his Mama, staring at the string of lights above the porch. It was nightfall now, and Lance sat outside on the porch with Mama, Uncle Gustavo, Marisoa, Alondra, and Keith.

     Uncle Gustavo had passed around bottles of his homemade spiced wine. It was a bit strong for Lance’s taste, and from Keith’s rosy cheeks, his as well.

     He took a few sips, using the burning sensation to ease the sudden tightness of grief in his heart.

     “A couple months ago. In her sleep,” Mama said.

     Another person he wouldn’t be able to give a proper goodbye to. The person who taught him to flirt, to treat all people with respect, who gave him so much love and support...gone.

     His chest ached, a new raw form of grief slipping in, mixing with the one he held for his papa.

     He raised his gaze. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

     Marisoa raised a brow as if seeing a chance. “I’m very curious, you’ve been evading the answer of where you’ve been all night.”

     Alondra perked at this as well, a knowing smile formed. “Tell us, Lance, where have you been these past four years?”

     Lance stole a glance at Keith who grimaced at that question. _Help me out here, buddy,_ Lance tried to communicate telepathically. It never worked, but Keith usually seemed to get the gist of their silent communication.

     “Uh,” Keith wheezed and coughed on a sip of Uncle Gustavo’s drink. “Oh, geez...” he coughed again. “In space.” “In...space?” Alondra repeated.

     Lance resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead sent Keith a pointed look. _Thanks for the help, pal._

Lance cleared his throat. “Um, yeah, so, ahem, where’s Javier? Does he, is...he still around?”

     Lance tugged at his uniform collar. _Great. Smooth. Pretend you didn’t see him earlier._

     Alondra and Marisoa shared a look and shifted in their seats.

     Uncle Gustavo’s gaze narrowed. “That boy has been gone way too long for a run to the store.”

     Mama sighed. “Girls?”

     Alondra winced. “He took off. I don’t know where he went.”

     Lance chuckled bitterly. “It’s okay. I get it if he doesn’t want to see me.”

     Marisoa shook her head. “Lance, no, it’s not like that, it’s...”

     Lance suddenly rose, needing to leave. He didn’t want to hear the excuses, Javier’s and his relationship would never be repaired. He would always be a disappointment to Javier, always be blamed for Papa’s death, would always be the one who deserved to die. “Is, eh, the bathroom in the same place?” Lance set his drink down. “The wine goes through me like water through a strainer.” He forced a laugh.

     “Lance,” Mama started. Her eyes flashed with pain.

     “Same place,” Lance answered for her. “Perfect.”

     He rushed inside, ignoring the mount of awkward tension he left behind.

* * *

 

     Keith drummed his fingers against the wine bottle. Shit. Lance left him behind with _his_ family. He was bad at small talk and conversation, and just people in general.

     He glanced at the four of them after Lance left. He swallowed. Damn it. He was supposed to be here to help Lance and support him. Well, time to do the one thing he was good at. Making threats.

     “I swear,” Keith said. “If Javier is deliberately hurting Lance, I will hunt him down and hurt him.”

     Lance’s mama blinked in shock, probably at the venom in his voice.

     Keith felt a surge of guilt. He liked Lance’s mama, her hugs were...they felt like a mom’s and for a moment, in her embrace, he felt like part of the family. But, Lance came first.

     He would defend Lance to the end, even if it mean losing the semblance of a family. He had a real one in space.

     Mama’s shock expression turned into one of gratitude, a smile formed. “You truly are his best friend, are you not?”

     Keith’s mouth worked. Not the direction he expected. He rubbed his thumb across his knuckles. “Look, Lance needs to see his brother. Especially if...”

     If this is truly the last time Lance will see his family. If he doesn’t make it back this time.

     Those words constricted in Keith’s throat.

     He should leave Lance here. Let him have his happy ending.

     Four years ago, Keith would’ve been in shocked at his thoughts today. The Universe needed Voltron. But Keith came to learn that no, the universe didn’t need Voltron. It needed hope.

     Hope that he and Lance have provided again and again.

     Why did they still have to keep fighting?

     What were they even fighting for anymore?

     Didn’t they deserve to go home?

     Didn’t they deserve peace?

     Marisoa reached a hand over and laid it on top of Keith’s fidgeting hand. “My husband is actually out looking for him. Javier’s been wanting to see Lance for years...since...”

     “Since we got the phone call that he was supposedly dead,” Uncle Gustavo said. “Poor boy has been racked with guilt ever since at how he treated Lance, waiting, wishing for a second chance.”

     “I don’t understand why he would run away now,” Alondra grumbled. “Lance is here! Here is Javier’s chance!”

     “Alondra,” Lance’s mama chided.

     “He’s scared,” Keith realized. He flicked his gaze toward the doorway where Lance disappeared into the house, for the bathroom. “He’s scared that he doesn’t deserve that second chance. That Lance will be better off not seeing him.”  

     “Geez, give to Lance to find creepily insightful friends,” Alondra grumbled.

     Keith hid a smile. He wasn’t always this insightful. The old him would’ve barged into the house and dragged Lance out and hunted Javier down and forced the two brothers together. Being a leader and having Lance as his right-hand man taught him many things.

     Keith chuckled. “I never would’ve guessed that Javier and Lance are more alike than I thought.” An idea sparked in his head. Lance wanted to see his family, he stayed close, yet would have never revealed himself if it hadn’t been for Keith. He grinned. “Hey, do you still have Lance’s room?”

     Lance’s mama smiled. “Hasn’t changed since the day he left. It’s been waiting for him.”

     Keith’s grin grew. “Maybe Javier didn’t run as far as we think he did.”

* * *

 

     Lance splashed water on his face and raised his head toward the mirror. He watched the droplets of water trickled down his cheek. He traced an old scar that his mama touched earlier, the one near his left eye. He glanced at the two fading ones down at his chin and the thick white one on his forehead.

     He ran a finger across his small goatee on the bottom of his chin. He sighed at his reflection. He looked like a battered war veteran instead of the hopeful daring pilot from four years ago. He grabbed a towel and patted his face dry.

     He should probably go back out there.

     Keith was probably freaking out, and he didn’t need to further worry Mama. His heart ached. Lance had caught the sidelong looks and the concerned glances Mama gave him throughout the evening. He could never fool her. She knew how much he changed.

     Lance hung the towel back on the rack. He gripped the edge of the porcelain sink, trying to get his emotions back under control.

     A knock sounded on the bathroom door. “Alejandro?”

     Lance’s heart squeezed. He opened the bathroom door and Mama stood on the other side, giving him a smile full of reassurance and love.

     Tears welled in his eyes again. What had he done to deserve her?

     Mama scooped him up into her arms again, holding him tight.

     “I am so proud of you,” she said.

     “How?” Lance cried. “You don’t know what I’ve done the past few years.”

     “I see the man you are now.” She pulled apart and wiped his tears away. “And I’m proud of who you’ve become.”

     Lance chuckled. “Yeah?”

     “Papa would’ve been so proud of you,” she added.

     Lance swallowed at the lump in his throat. “Really?”

     Mama squeezed his cheeks. “Really.” She lightly slapped his shoulder. “I have something to show you.”

     She led him down the hallway, past the doorway into the master bedroom on the right, past Javier’s room on the left, and then Marisoa’s room on the right at the end, then at the very end of the hallway was the door to his.

     Mama paused in front of the closed door, hand resting upon the handle.

     Lance waited. He stared at her, wondering why she was hesitating. Had she changed the room? He wouldn’t blame her. He would’ve wanted her to move on.

     Her eyes scanned him as if searching for something that would help her answer her inner question. Her soft gaze landed upon his eyes and she smiled. She must’ve found the answer.

     Mama held her finger to her lips and opened the door.

     An undignified squawk was heard.

     When Lance followed Mama further into his old bedroom that had not been touched nor changed since he’d left, he found the source of that squawk.

     His heart seemed to jump to his throat and lodged in there.

     Javier paddled back from the wall, eyes wide. His mouth worked as he took in the sight of Lance.

     Mama rubbed the side of Javier’s upper arm. “I’ll leave you two be.”

     _What?_ Lance wanted to cry out. _Don’t leave me alone with him. I don’t know what to say!_

The lump in his throat throbbed.

     Mama closed the door behind her.

     Lance and Javier continued to stare at each other, each waiting for the other to break the silence.

     Lance ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s, uh, been a while.”

     Javier blinked. “Ye-yeah.”

     “Kind of creepy to find you in my old room,” Lance said. He walked over to his desk, surprised to find some of the space magazines and journals were still on it. Nobody touched anything. He didn’t know what to make of that.

     “It’s kind of homey, you know, you got the best view of the house,” Javier said.

     They both glanced out the window, even though it was dark, Lance knew that beyond the trees, one could make out the ocean in the distance.

     “You must have better night vision than I do,” Lance teased.

     They both chuckled at Lance’s lame joke and awkward silence filled in between them.

     _C’mon,_ Lance thought. _He’s your brother. Hug him._

 _“You’re a selfish asshole, you know that? Abandoning our family so you can become, what, a cargo pilot? You’re putting Papa’s memory to shame...and I’m ashamed to be your brother,”_ were Javier’s last words to Lance.

     Lance’s fingers curled into a fist. He’d thought he’d forgiven his brother. He thought he’d grown and would be the bigger man.

     Yet there Javier stood, shifting between his feet as if he wanted nothing more than to _not_ be in Lance’s presence.

     _Why am I letting my fear take over me?_ Lance inhaled a breath and fired out his next words with courage: “I’m sorry.”

     Javier shot his gaze up and burrowed his brows. “Wh-”

“For abandoning the family,” Lance said. He squared his shoulders back and jutted out his chin. “I left you guys behind, and I’m sorry.”

     Javier shook his head. “No, dios mio, no, Lance, that’s...why...Que diablos, why are you apologizing?” He stormed forth and grabbed the collar of Lance’s uniform. “Why?”

     Lance couldn’t comprehend why there were tears were forming in Javier’s eyes. His brother lowered his head, his chin touching his chest. “Que diablos, Lance...I...”

     Lance felt himself getting choked up, he found it hard to get his next words out. “I left you guys. I mean, I basically ran away to the Garrison.”

     “Stop it, Lance,” Javier yelled. He shoved Lance against the door. “Stop it!”

     Lance blinked at Javier who breathed hard, red anger flushing his face.

     “I...I’m the one who should be sorry!”

     Lance inhaled a sharp breath. _What?_

     The lump in Javier’s throat bobbed. “I...I’m sorry. I...I treated you like...all the stuff I said, I...” Javier’s lower lip quivered. “You deserve a hero’s welcome, Lance. I...how can someone who caused you so much pain be a part of that welcome?”

     “You...” Lance was not expecting this. “You didn’t cause me that much pain, Javier. Most of it was my own self-worth issues.”

     Javier glared. “Don’t.”

     Lance sniffled. “Javier, look, I...”

     “Shut up.” Javier grumbled and he yanked Lance into a hug. “Shut up. I’m...Que diablos, it’s so good to see you.”

     Warmth filled Lance’s heart and he returned Javier’s hug in kind. When was the last time they hugged as brothers? The last time they were civil toward one another?

     “I missed you, man,” Lance said.

     “Right back at you,” Javier said. He pulled back and ruffled Lance’s hair. “Look at you. Growing a goatee, huh?”

     “Right, and what’s that you’re trying to grow? Sideburns?”

     Javier lightly shoved Lance. “Shut up.”

     Lance laughed and he couldn’t help the wide smile on his face.

     “Space, huh?” Javier said. He flicked his gaze over Lance’s uniform. A flicker of confusion crossed his features. He cocked a brow at Lance. “Where you’ve been?”

     Panic seized Lance’s heart again. He didn’t want to lie to his brother. Not when they had a chance of patching things up again. He swallowed and averted his gaze. “Um, well, working undercover for the Garrison, you know. For the Blades of Marmora.”

     He caught Javier narrowing his eyes. He recognized the quick flare of anger that rushed through Javier. Javier opened his mouth to speak but stopped. He smiled a bit. “Oh?”

     Lance redirected his full attention onto Javier.

     “Blades of Marmora,” Javier said. “A secret operative that consist of mostly Galra soldiers. Hmm. I’m surprised the Garrison knew about them, considering they didn’t really know much of Voltron.”

     Lance struggled not to show his pride at the mention of Voltron. “Yeah,” Lance scoffed, trying to play it off by crossing his arms. “And you do?”

     “Probably not as much as you do,” Javier said. “I mean, I’m sure your paths have crossed.”

     Lance cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure.”

     Javier smirked and his eyes sparked impishly. “Do you know them, personally?”

     Lance couldn’t stop the glowing smile from spreading across his face. “Yeah, they’re the best people I know.”

     “So your paths may have crossed more than once.”

     Lance blinked. Crap. “A few times. Can’t be helped in the war against the Galra.”

     “Why did the Garrison send a newbie to space?”

     Damn. Why did his family have to be smart and ask questions? “That’s, eh, imperative information.”

     “Imperative? Fair enough.” Javier chuckled. “Right.” He chewed his lower lip. “I have something to show you.” He walked over to Lance’s double closet doors and opened it.

     Javier pushed the hangers of clothes to the side to reveal multiple photos and papers taped to the wall.

     Lance walked closer to further inspect it. There were photographs...of the drawings in the cave where Lance found the blue Lion.

     He stole a glance at his brother who kept his gaze trained on the closet. The other pictures were of various constellations of space, of Kerberos, of...Balmera? How did Javier get a picture of that planet?

     “Where did you get...”

     Javier interrupted Lance. “I kept track on all the members of Voltron. My favorite is the Blue Paladin.” He clicked his tongue. “Or I guess he’s the Red Paladin now, or Black. I can’t really figure it out, but, I found a lot of reports on him. Did you know that he single-handedly took down an entire fleet of Galra invaders? He and the Red Paladin once managed to escape through a Galra detention center, saved the captured Lions, and five planets in the process? He’s a great tactician and fabulous sharpshooter.”

     _Be careful, you've only got one shot._

_Don't worry, Pidge, I'm an excellent shot._

     “Apart from being a hero, he’s a great peacemaker...connects well with kids, and like to make a show of himself to cheer others up.”

     Various emotions swirled underneath the surface of Lance’s chest. “Sounds like this Blue Paladin has an adoring fan.”

     Javier grinned and turned to Lance. “Probably his number one fan, as well as the rest of the family.”

     They knew. How? How did they collect and find all of this information? How did... He remember Uncle Gustavo’s strange homemade space gun when he thought Lance and Keith were space bastards. What had his family been up to?

     A static cut through the room and Lance nearly jolted out of his skin. He snapped his head toward the small communicator hooked to his belt.

     “Red Five, do you copy? This is Red Leader. Do you read me?”

     Lance’s eyes balked. That was Shiro. What did he need? Not now! He was visiting with his family.

     He grabbed his communicator and pressed the talk button. “This is Red Five.”

     “I need you and Red Two to report to the rendezvous point. The Green and Yellow Paladin are in danger.”

     Lance jerked to attention. Pidge and Hunk? What happened?

     Keith barged into the room and Lance held up a hand to silence him.

     “Copy, Red Leader. We’re coming.” He nodded to Keith and his friend left the room in a haste. He went to follow, but stopped, turning toward Javier.

     “I...I...”

     “Go,” Javier said, his face crestfallen.

     Lance’s heart tore as he stormed away from his brother...there was so much more to say, so much more to catch up on...he wanted to know the new person his brother was.

     He ran down the hallway and toward the front door.

     Lance caught sight of Mama waiting nearby.

     Tears stung his eyes. How long would it be before he saw her again?

     He slowed. “Ma-ma,” his voice cracked.

     She cupped his right cheek, tears already streaming. “I understand. Go.”

     His heart shattered as he stepped away from her and followed Keith out the front door. They rushed down the street, under the cover of the night, heading for the Varadero Beach.

     Lance still felt the lingering warmth on his cheek where his mother last touched him.

     He bit back a sob and prayed it wouldn’t be another four years until he saw them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those poor brothers! There's still so much more to say! *sobs*


	4. Stay Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right after Lance's reunion with his family, he and Keith receive a distress call from Shiro. They rush to the beach to regroup with the Blades, or so they think...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. So much has happened since then, both personal and work-related, and it took a while for me to find my creativity again. Please forgive me. I rather enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you guys like it!!   
> Thank you for your support and your reviews and kudos! They mean so much to me. You guys rock!!!!
> 
> Enjoy the next chapter!

_I hope you cherish this sweet way of life_

_And I hope you know that it comes with a price_

_I just came back from a place where they hated me_

_And everything I stand for_

_A land where our brothers are dying for others who don't even care anymore_

_Chances are I never will be the same_

_I really don't know anymore_

_I just came back from a war_

_\--I Just Came Back From a War by Darryl Worley_

 

* * *

  


     “I thought you said you called Kolivan!”

     “I did!” Keith snapped. “I don’t know what’s taking him so long!”

     Lance tried to force out the barrage of thoughts that kept surfacing of Hunk and Pidge hurt and in danger and bleeding out and wondering where their friends were and Shiro trying to help...Gah! Lance inhaled a breath and spun toward Keith.

     The waves smacked over Lance’s boots and the wind howled behind him.

     “Call him again!”

     “What do you thinking I’m doing?” Keith yelled. He held a device that looked like an upgrade version of a walkie-talkie. A click was heard as Keith pressed the side button. “Kolivan, come in?” Click. “Do you read me? Over.” Click. “Kolivan?”

     Lance grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. “Listen to me, if you don’t respond, I will cut off that stupid pony tail you have!”

     “I don’t think he’s going to come.”

     Lance and Keith shared a look. That was Shiro. They turned toward the shack, the moonlight illuminating upon the sand.

     What the quiznak?

     Commander Iverson stood on the beach, flanked by ten Garrison soldiers. He held a circular device to his mouth. He glanced at Lance.

     “I warned you not to follow into his footsteps,” Iverson said, except his voice sounded like Shiro’s through the voice distorter.

     Anger boiled through Lance overcoming his shame in getting so easily fooled by his old teacher. “Keith, slice out his other eye for me,” he snarled.

     Keith whipped out his Marmora blade. “With pleasure.”

     Iverson lowered the voice distorter and visible gulped.

     A small pleasure of glee flittered through Lance when Iverson took a small step back.

     “What is this?” Lance said. “Luring us here by using our friends as bait?”

     Iverson chuckled. “We have no idea where your other friends are. Honestly, _Lance,_ do you truly expect us to assume that you two are not the Paladins of Voltron? What kind of fools to you take us to be?”

     “Is that a rhetorical question?”

     Iverson’s lips curled back. “Arrest them. We’re taking them in for questioning.”

     “For what?”

     One of the soldiers from behind Iverson shot at Lance.

     Lance ducked out of the way of a blue stun-ray. He widened his eyes.

     “Typical,” Keith said. He threw up his arm and a small transparent blue shield appeared on his arm, blocking a stun ray. “Shoot first and ask questions later.”

     Lance pulled out his blue and red bayards. “It’s a page out of your playbook, Samurai.”

     The rest of the soldiers began to fire upon them, charging past Iverson toward the two.

     Lance spun out of the way of several rays as Keith stormed toward the oncoming onslaught. He threw his sword and it embedded into one of the soldier’s gun. Static burst of blue rays exploded from his gun.

     Lance morphed his bayards into mid-range guns, raised both arms and fired. If they were shooting to stun, Lance fed his intentions into his bayards to shoot to stun as well.

     The five soldiers in Lance’s vicinity slumped to the sand, unconscious. He glanced up to see that Keith had hand-fought three soldiers to the ground. He grabbed his knife from the gun stuck in the sand, heading toward the remaining two soldiers.

     Lance smirked and fired a single shot from both bayards.

     Keith’s remaining soldiers dropped to the ground.

     Keith paused, hands up in an offensive stance. He shot an annoyed glare at Lance. “I had them!”

     “You were taking forever.” Lance turned his guns toward Iverson. “I’m thinking that maybe we should take _you_ in and have you answer some of our questions.”

     “That is, if we can decipher your answers between your screams,” Keith said, rubbing his thumb along the edge of his blade. Dios mio, that gave Lance goosebumps.

     Iverson’s good eye twitched. He released a mirthless chuckle, bowing his head. His hands were still clasped behind his back, his stance showing that he held no fear for them.

     Lance’s gut churned. Something wasn’t right here. He gritted his teeth, making a decision. He grabbed Keith’s shoulder. “We need to get out of here,” he said.

     Keith’s brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it with a nod. He sheathed his blade as Lance’s guns transformed back to their standard bayard form and hung them from his belt.

     After four years, Keith trusted Lance’s judgement.

     They bolted down the beach, away from the shack. They didn’t get very far when armored tanks propelled out of the ocean and began rolling on the beach.

     “Are you kidding me?” Keith cried out.

     “And you call me insane?” Lance shot back. They zipped out of the way of a tank that struggled to gather a strong bearing on the land.

     Several helicopters flew over them, lights shone down upon them.

     Lance and Keith pressed their backs together as the four armored tanks surrounded them.

     Garrison soldiers popped out of the tankss hatch, aiming the barrels of their guns on the two.

     What should they do? Kill everyone in sight? Blow everything up?

     Lance’s heart pattered hard in his chest and his panicked mind offered him way too many solutions.

     _Patience yields focus_ , Lance tried to tell himself.

     “Shit,” Keith muttered behind him.

     Lance inhaled a breath, eyes scanning his surroundings, absorbing every single detail.

     “Come on, sharpshooter,” Keith whispered. “Whip up a miracle plan.”

     The wind brushed against the back of Lance’s neck and a whisper that sounded like his Papa’s sounded softly in his ears: “ _Lancelot, run.”_

Lance’s gaze landed on the sharp rocks in the distance. The very rocks where...Lance swallowed a lump.

     He grabbed Keith’s hand and his friend jerked his head at him.

     _Papa, if you’re there, please save our quiznaking butts!_

     He tugged at Keith’s hand and Keith immediately followed after him, allowing Lance to guide him.

     Lance rushed in between the wide space between the two armored tanks. Shots fired, and he heard Iverson screaming orders, but the words were lost on the wind.

     Was it him or was the wind picking up speed?

     “MASKS!” Lance cried out to Keith. He flicked on his Blades mask and hoped Keith did the same as they both treaded across the ocean waters.

     A blue ray shot near Lance and a stream of water exploded outward, droplets spraying Lance’s face. Whew. That was close.

     He tugged at Keith again and widened his eyes as a huge wave curled up to meet them.

     They both drove into the water, swimming under the wave.

     Lance blinked, breathing normally behind his mask. He had a brief moment to marvel the many amazingness of the Marmora’s mask abilities.

     Keith tugged at his hand and Lance immediately berated himself.

     Keith couldn’t swim. He yanked Keith closer and motioned for his friend to wrap his arms around him.

     Keith gripped on the back of Lance’s armor. Lance moved his arms, struggling to swim. Keith tried to help by kicking like a loco frog.

     It was hard to make out the shapes under the water, especially with the looming lights and blue rays zipping under the water in slow-motion.

     He could no longer hear the roar of the helicopters. It was hard swimming against the current, and even though Lance’s training kicked in, his body was no longer a swimmer’s body. War had molded it into something else. It took him much longer to reach the bundle of sharp rocks near the cliff than it normally would have.

     As a kid, he and Javier found a small tunnel behind the rocks. It was hidden by a mass collection of seaweed that accumulated due to the waves. It was easier to get to as a kid as they were smaller and could fit through the tight space.

     He prayed it was still there. 

     His eyes grew blurry under the murky dark waters, and the shadows of the rocks wiggled in slow motion.

     Why was it getting so much harder to swim?

     His bayards...he could use it...his mind turned sluggish.

     A strong hand gripped Lance’s shoulder. Lance flinched. He knew Keith’s touch and that wasn’t him!

     The figure in the water held up their other hand in a placating manner, the gesture looked so familiar. Who was it? Could Lance trust them?

     The hand on his shoulder squeezed him reassuringly, and for a moment it felt like the way Papa used to do it.

     _Great. Papa going to take Keith and me to hell. I killed us._

He allowed himself to be guided by the figure, they moved in between the narrow rocks, and swam toward the limestone cliff.

     Lance wheezed as he and Keith poked their heads above water. He blinked at the curtain of seaweed moss hanging over the entrance of the small cave. The curtain moved and Lance gasped.

     Uncle Gustavo.

     “Here!” the figure yelled, lifting Keith partially up from the ocean.

     Gustavo easily pulled Keith up from the figure’s grip, like a sack of flour.

     Lance blinked and redirected his gaze toward the figure that saved them.

     “Javier?” he squeaked out.

     “Come on,” his brother urged.

     A weird feeling bubbled in Lance’s chest. It’s been a while since he last felt it.

     Gustavo had set Keith in the cave and returned for Lance.

     Water dripped from Lance as he stood in the musky narrow cave. The tunnel was no longer narrow and had enough space for them to crawl through. He removed his mask.

     Darkness consumed them as Uncle Gustavo closed the curtain after Javier pulled himself in.

     A flick was switched and a small lantern bloomed on.

     Uncle Gustavo held it up toward Keith and Lance.

     Keith had removed his own mask as well, heaving. “I tried to get a hold of the Blades, but the damn transmission was jammed.”

     Lance only nodded and turned back toward Javier. The feeling in his chest bubbled as he stared at his brother.

     “How did you know to come get us?” Lance asked.

     Javier shook the water from his hair. He was still dressed in his normal clothes. His brother saved them from tanks and a military army wearing civilian clothes. Of course. Why was Lance not surprised? Javier always did everything better than him, didn’t he?

     “I, uh, may have listened in to a couple of transmissions when you left. Gustavo downloaded the readings and recognized them as old Garrison codes.”

     Lance found himself chuckling bitterly. “You always have to swoop in and be better than me, don’t you?”

     “What?” Javier snapped.

     “Are you jealous I’m some short of hero? You can’t ever allow me to have anything, can you?”

     “Lance,” Keith hissed behind him.

     Javier mirrored Lance’s chuckle. “Wow. Still the same pompous ass, huh? You always have to make everything about you, don’t you?”

     Uncle Gustavo stepped in between them. “Boys. This isn’t the time nor place.”

     Javier shoved Gustavo to the side, nostrils flaring. “Oh, this is the place. Come on, Lance, let it out. Explain to me how a _cargo_ pilot becomes a paladin, oh, wait, you’re not, you pretend you’re a member of the Blades because everything they achieve gets contributed to you. Didn’t know you had that low of a self-esteem that you have to take other people’s credit.”

     Lance stepped forward, ignored the slight dizziness that washed over him. “This cave is starting to feel a little claustrophobic with your behemoth of an ego suffocating us.”

     “Lance!” He wondered why Keith’s voice sounded worried instead of rebuking.

     “I have the urge to toss you back out for the Garrison to arrest,” Javier said, strutting up to Lance.

     “Oh, I dare you!” Lance leaned forward, their noses nearly touching. They glowered at each other.

     “Lance!” Keith yelled, yanking at the collar of Lance’s shirt.

     “What?” Lance turned to his friend.

     Keith’s features was stricken and Lance’s heart tugged. “You’re bleeding!” He pointed at Lance’s left shoulder.

     Lance rolled his eyes and glanced down. He didn’t feel any pain so it must not...whoa... He could barely make out the blood among the dark uniform and lack of proper light in the cave, but his left shoulder looked stickily wet.

     He touched it and a wave of pain washed over him. Lance drew his hand back, covered in blood.

     “Shit,” Keith said, digging through his belt.

     Another wave of dizziness washed over him.

     Keith reached out to steady him.

     Lance blinked at the white swarming into his vision. Damn it. “Keith...Samurai...” He struggled to find Keith’s face. So much white. “Contact the others, make sure they’re okay.”

     “Lance, you’ll be...”

     “We make a good team,” he said.

     There. That should be good enough last words.

     Lance’s knees wobbled and he dropped forward. He felt Keith’s breath on his neck as his friend struggled to hold him upward.

     The last thing he heard before the whiteness turned black was the sound of Javier crying out his name.

* * *

  


     Smells of garlic and butter filled his nostrils. His stomach grumbled and it jerked Lance to full consciousness.

     He blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening.

     He stood in the middle of the pizza shack. The wooden boards on the wall glistened as if they were brand-new, but Lance had never seen them as anything but stained and dull.

     Light flickered in through the windows, illuminating the top of the tables.

     All Lance saw out the windows was bright blue, but no ocean.

     His gaze scanned around the empty pizza shack and landed on the far corner booth.

     Papa sat in the booth, stroking his mustache.

     A basket of garlic knots sat on the table in front of him.

     “Ah, Lancelot, I’ve been saving these for you. Come get them.”

     Peace settled into him and he smiled at the older man.

     “Papa,” Lance whispered.

     Papa lowered his hand and beamed back at his son.  

     Lance moved through the maze of tables and chairs before he reached his Papa. He sat in the booth next to him and they both immediately hugged each other.

     Lance laughed and burrowed his face into Papa’s shoulder.

     “It’s been a long time,” Lance said. “Since...”

     “Since you were trapped in your mind,” Papa said. “I remember.”

     They pulled back and Papa crinkled his mustache.

     “You’ve come a long way since then, Red Five,” he said with a proud smile.

     Lance glanced around the place, an old Cuban song played overhead. “So, am I finally dead?”

     Papa chuckled. “It’ll take a lot more than those gringos to get you killed. Your body is in the abandoned pizza shack right now. You’re getting taken care of. Marisoa works as a nurse.”

     “What?” Lance stepped out of the booth and ran his fingers through his hair. “Shit. I never should’ve come home. Mama must be so worried sick! Ay, estoy muy estupido!”

     “Don’t beat yourself up, Lancelot. You got injured from protecting your friend. Besides, it was due time for you to return home.”

     Lance sighed. “Everything’s so different. I missed so much. Just seeing them...” He lowered his head, wondering if the next words would bring dishonor to him. “Seeing them kind of makes me want to quit being a Paladin. I’m...tired of fighting.”

     “It’s nothing to be ashamed about. You’ve sacrificed so much for the universe, you don’t own them anything.”

     Lance slumped back down next to his Papa. “Yeah. I say I’m tired of fighting, and what do I do when Javier saves my butt? Pick a fight. I thought I’d grown past that.”

     Papa threw his head back and laughed.

     Lance glared at him. “I don’t see what’s so funny about that.”

     “You two remind me so much of mi hermana and I. She moved to La Yuma after high school, to eh, Florida.”

     His Aunt Penelope. He hadn’t seen her in years.

     “We fought constantly growing up. When she left, I found myself missing her, yet whenever we got together, we picked up right where we left off: bickering and fighting. Ay, your mama hated it when Penelope visited.”

     “Are you saying me and Javier are always going to fight?”

     “Both of you have grown past that stage in your life. You’re resorting back to it because it’s easier to treat him like that, because that’s all you’ve ever treated him.” Papa flicked Lance’s nose. “Don’t go back to that old habit. Get to learn Javier again, Lance, and allow him to get to know you.”

     Lance scoffed. “He does. He’s kept track of me, Papa, he knows of...”

     “He knows of your exploits as a Paladin, but does he know _Lance_?”

     Lance nodded, knowing his Papa was right. “I’m just scared, Papa. What if...what if nothing has changed between us?”

     “Both of you have changed tremendously, but in order to change the relationship between the two of you, you two must work on it. He needs you, just as you need him.”

     Lance’s eyes glistened with tears and he wiped at them. “I missed this, I missed your ‘ol sage wisdom.”

     Papa chuckled. “Oh mi hijo, I’ve missed you terribly.”

     Lance smiled. “At least one thing hasn’t changed.” He poked his papa’s shoulder. “You’re still watching out for me.”

     “Always,” Papa said. He picked up a garlic knot. “I will always be there for you.” He slid the basket over to Lance.

     Lance picked up the knot, it was hot and soft in his hands. He took a bite and moaned. “Ay dios mio. These are better than I remember.”

     “The best thing about the afterlife is that I can’t get any fatter off of these,” Papa said, rubbing his potbelly for emphasis.

     Lance laughed. “In that case, I’ll have another basket.”

     Papa waved a finger. “Not until you talk to your brother.”

     Lance groaned. “Oh, come on.”

     Papa grinned and pressed his finger against Lance’s forehead.

* * *

  


     Lance gasped and woke up with a jolt. He rose into a sitting position. Sweat covered his skin, blocking the heat and causing him to shiver despite the humidity.

     The room was dark, save for a few electronic lanterns stationed throughout. The abandoned pizza shack. It looked so different without the tables and chairs. The windows were boarded up, yet Lance could tell it was still dark out.

     He glanced down at his bare chest, white bandages wrapped around his left shoulder, spotted with dried blood. He laid on a pile of ragged blankets and he hoped his wound didn’t get infected by the diseases the blankets had to be carrying.

     “You’re up.”

     Lance glanced up to see Javier slowly approach him.

     His brother cleared his throat and averted his gaze as he held out a water bottle.

     Lance swallowed, realizing his throat was dry. He took the bottle. “Uh, thanks.”

     Javier nodded, still staring at the walls.

     “Er, Keith is trying to get in contact with Shiro or Kolivan. The Garrison are still outside searching for you guys,” Javier said.

     Lance froze. “Mama and...”

     “Don’t worry. They’re all in the kitchen trying to help Keith or getting in touch with their own sources.” Javier couldn’t hide a small smile and he glanced at Lance. “Mama is blocking the Garrison’s radar scanning, no one will know we’re in here. Honestly, for a country that prides themselves for their military, it’s kind of laughable how they’re getting outwitted by a woman who doesn’t know how to text.”

     Lance smirked. “No one can outwit Mama.”

     They smiled at each other before an awkward silence filled between them.

     Lance drank half of the water bottle, trying to pass the time to figure out what to say.

     Didn’t they already have this awkward conversation earlier?

     _He needs you, just like you need him,_ Papa’s voice reminded him.

     “I’m sorry,” they both blurted out at the same time.

     They blinked and then both chuckled.

     Javier found some comfort to sit down next to Lance.

     “I’m sorry,” Lance said, wanting to plow first and get this over with. “You saved me and Keith’s butt and I shoved it in your face. I should be thanking you. I mean it. Thank you. I don’t know what it is but it’s like my old high school self is still holding a grudge.”

     Javier twiddled with his thumbs. “Well, I don’t blame you, I was kind of...”

     “Dude. We both were jerks. Look, Javier, I don’t hate you and I’m not mad at you. Sure, the hurt is still there sometimes, but it’s not as bad as how much I missed you, how much I missed all of you guys, I mean, you’re my brother, man.”

     Javier flicked his gaze up and smiled softly, like a proud older brother.

     Lance’s throat worked. “To be honest, I was kind of scared to see you guys. I was scared that you guys had moved on and how could I disrupt...”

     “Move on?” Javier shook his head. “No. Man. We never moved on, because we all _knew_ you weren’t dead. We were waiting for you to come home!”

     Lance winced, guilt slamming into his stomach, curling into it and...

     Javier squeezed Lance’s hands. “No, man, not like that, I mean...we all knew that you had a big part to play in a war that we can never imagine or fathom it to be. We waited, and prepared for you, so that you had something to come home to.”

     Lance sniffled, damn, why was he getting so emotional?  
     Javier wiped at his own nose and blinked at the tears in his eyes. “I was terrified to see you too, because I thought you would hate me.” This time, Javier sniffed. “Damn, why is it so dusty in here?”

     “It’s the blankets,” Lance supplied.

     Javier chuckled.

     “Another thing I’m scared of is that once I saw you guys, I wouldn’t want to go back,” Lance said. He blinked and this time he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I don’t want to go back.”

     “Lance,” Javier said, and his voice was full of so much emotions and understanding. He immediately pulled his brother into a comforting hug, mindful of his shoulder. “You don’t have to. If they try to take you, I’ll fucking fight them off, you hear me?”

     Lance’s chest racked and he found himself sobbing.

     “I want to stay home,” Lance cried.

     Javier’s hold on him tightened and soon, they were both crying, wishing for the old childhood days where the only worries they had was who was going to have the last of the garlic knots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh poor Lance. I always felt like once Lance came home, he wouldn't want to leave his family again. That boy holds a lot of love for them. I hope in the show, they portray something similar to that. (AND DUDES WE FOUND OUT HIS FAMILY'S NAMESSS!!!) I hope you like Lance's and Papa's interactions. My dad passed away when I was fifteen, and writing Lance and Papa together is like a wish-fulfillment of how I imagine my after-lifeish reunion with my dad, except instead of garlic knots, it would be popcorn.


	5. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Estrange brothers Lance and Javier strengthen their bond as a dangerous situation emerges for Team Voltron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!   
> This story is not dead! I promise! I promise!!! Thank you all for your continued support, for your wait (I'm sorry it was sooooo long!), and your awesomness! Here's the next chapter! I realized (or maybe I'm having a brain fart) that I never gave Lance's family a last name, so they are the Alvarez family (yes, I stole it from One Day at a Time, because they are the best cuban family on TV and I must honor them).   
> Alright! Go read it! Enjoy!!! Ahhh!! I'm so happy to give this to you!!! It was such a joy to write!!! I miss writing LANCE! <3

_So on we go_

_His welfare is of my concern_

_No burden is he to bear_

_We'll get there_

_For I know_

_He would not encumber me_

_He ain't heavy, he's my brother_

_\---_ _He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother by the Hollies_

* * *

 

 

 

     Laughter erupted from Lance and Javier as they sat on the bundle of moth-eaten blankets. Lance wiped a tear from his eye, his stomach cramping and he had to hunch over to elevate the tightness.

     “No...” Lance wheezed between each burst of laughter. “He...didn’t!”

     Javier nodded, his laughter turned into a giggle. He struggled to continue with his story. “So...we’re all just staring in shock as the Dean emerges...” He covered his mouth, giggles erupting. “From the pool and his skin...ha...is completely dyed blue, even his hair!” Javier held up his hands as if to say: _wait for it_. “We’re all standing there in shock, trying to keep a straight face. However, naturally because I have the Alvarez blood running through my veins, I couldn’t help but ask him: _Why so blue?”_

     They both howled with laughter again.

     Lance tried to soak up this moment as best as he could. How long had it been since he and Javier laughed at each other’s stories, or heck, even shared stories?

     After a while, the laughter died out, and Javier’s features turned a bit more serious. “A hazing gone wrong and my stupid mouth got me expelled from college,” he said. He glanced over at Lance. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Course at the time, I didn’t think so. If I hadn’t gotten expelled, I never would’ve returned home, never would’ve had my old swim coach take pity on me, take me on me as an assistant...”

     “And now you’re the high school’s official swim coach,” Lance said, beaming with pride. He nudged Javier’s shoulder with his healthy one. “I’m not surprised. Swimming is in your heart. Papa always said you would be happier as a merman.”

     Javier laughed. “Yeah.” His face fell. “Abuela ruined it for me for a long time.” His gaze flickered down at his writhing hands. Lance held his breath as he saw tears glistening in his brother’s hands. “I believed her, I let her...” He shook his head. “I was really mean to you.”

     Lance’s heart clenched and he hooked an arm around Javier. “You shouldn’t beat yourself up, man. Abuela abused both of us.” He added with a twinkle in his eyes. “Look at us now. True love wins, bitch.”

     Javier chuckled and squeezed Lance’s knees. “I haven’t talked to her in years.” He paused as if debating something. “Not since the day the Garrison tried to convince us that you were dead.”

     Lance’s heart squeezed again and he draped his arm back, placing his hands on his lap. He knew the Garrison did that. He knew they would.

     “I refused to believe it,” Javier said. “All of us did. We just knew you had to still be alive.” He gently nudged Lance’s chin with his knuckles. “Papa’s watching over you.”

     Lance smiled softly. “Can I be honest about something?”

     Javier nodded and for a brief second, Lance saw Papa in Javier’s serious expression, but it disappeared quickly as it came.

     “When I became a Paladin of Voltron, after the whole novelty wore off, I was homesick. Really homesick. I couldn’t stop thinking about you guys. Every time I went out into battle, I had to make sure I lived, because...I didn’t want to do what Papa did...I didn’t want to leave you guys without a goodbye.” He sniffled and this time Javier hooked his arm around Lance’s shoulders. “I didn’t know if you guys were alive or dead, time works differently in space.”

     “Lance...” Javier said, his mouth working.

     Lance pressed on, not yet finished. “We ended up liberating this planet, Vanaterra. It was similar to Earth a bit. Lots of beaches, their water would change from crystal clear to a deep blue to a turquoise in the span of a minute. And it was always the perfect temperature. I had isolated myself from the group by that point, consumed by my homesickness, that I skipped the diplomatic meeting to go swimming that night. It’d been over a year, maybe a bit more since that summer I visited home, since I swam in an ocean. You should’ve seen this ocean! It glowed a sea-green turquoise at night!”

     He remembered that day vividly. He had stripped down to his boxers and ran into the waters like a kid, diving under the waves and swam far out beyond the shores.

     “All of a sudden, when I was in the waters, I was overwhelmed by all these memories. Of the all the times we swam in the ocean, of Varadero Beach. When Papa pretended to be the shark monster. When he...saved me. When you and I would race from one end of the beach to the other. Ha, remembered when we buried Uncle Gustavo in the sand?”

     Javier chuckled.

     “I lost it. I broke down sobbing, and I couldn’t stop. I missed you guys, so much.” He sniffled, his chest tightening at the reminder.

     Javier squeezed Lance’s shoulder, jaw flexing.

     “All of a sudden, something splashed into the waters near me and tried to drown me. When I broke myself free, I realized it was Keith. I glanced up and the rest of my team, Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, heck, even Coran, were dressed in these weird Altean swimsuits. They were hovering above in the Blue Lion. They all jumped from her, to swim in the ocean with me.” Lance wiped at the tears from his cheeks. “We always stressed the mission before all else. Yet here they were. Skipping a delicate diplomatic meeting to go swimming in the ocean with me, to make me feel at home. In that moment, it finally clicked for me, that moment where I was glad to be a Paladin of Voltron. Because I had a second family right there worth fighting for. How many guys are lucky enough to be blessed with _two_ families?”

     Lance rubbed his finger over his knuckles. “They say being a Paladin means being a Defender of the Universe. For me, being a Paladin means defending my family.” He glanced up at Javier. “ _Both_ of them.”

     He was surprised to see tears welling up in Javier’s eyes, his breath hitching. Javier leaned back and wiped at them. “Damn it, Lance. We don’t deserve you.”

     Huh? What? Why say that? What did Javier mean?

     “Look, man,” Javier started. “I...”

     Heavy footsteps rushed into the room. Both brothers glanced up at the new arrival.

     Uncle Gustavo had a stricken look on his face. “Lance,” was all that he needed to say.

     Lance bolted up onto his feet, following his uncle into the kitchen. Javier was right behind him.

     “If you’re able to connect to the United Galactic Nations, why not the Castle?” Keith was screaming at Mama in the far corner of the room.

     Mama sat in front of four monitors, two keyboards in front of her. Marisoa sat next to her, watching Keith blow up at them.

     Anger boiled at his friend for the lack of respect, until something else came to Lance’s mind. Keith’s rash recklessness had calmed over the past four years, especially since he was reunited with his mother. The only time it seemed to resurface was when it involved someone he cared about.

     He stepped forward, placing a steady hand on Keith’s shoulder, shooting an apologetic look to Mama as he did so. “Hey man,” he cooed softly.

     Keith’s shoulders sagged a bit as if in relief, yet the tension remained mounted in his back. He kept his hand on Keith’s shoulder and glanced at Mama.

     “Mama?”

     “Garrison forces stormed the United Galactic Headquarters. They interrupted the peace meeting between the “Paladins”...” Oh dios mio, Mama used air quotes. “...and the representatives of each nation.”

     “What?” Lance gasped.

     “They’re holding the “Paladins” hostage in exchange for the Lions.”  
     “ _What?”_ Lance yelled. “¿Qué clase de idiota estúpido está a cargo de la Garrison?”

     “They’ve given two Earth hours for the terms to be met, or they’ll start killing the Paladins off, one by one, by each additional half-hour they don’t have the Lions.”

     Those bastards. Fury boiled within Lance, but he needed to extinguish someone else’s.

     There was someone they sent in to impersonate as the Black Paladin. Someone who held an air of authority about her, even when she was in a calm setting: Krolia. They sent Allura, Coran, Slav, Nyma, and Krolia in without weapons, because it was supposed to be a peace meeting.

     He squeezed Keith’s shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, man, we’ll save her. Besides, if you take after her, I think she can take care of herself. She’s badass, remember?”

     The tension ebbed out of Keith and he turned to Lance, a soft smile on his features, yet tight lines framed his eyes.

     “We’ll get her back. You’re not going to lose her again.” Another squeeze. Then he was all business.

     “How much time before the deadline?”

     “An hour and nineteen minutes remaining,” Mama said.

     “All the Lions except the Green are still up in the Castle, right?”

     “We can’t reach the Castle,” Keith snapped. “The Garrison somehow is jamming transmissions. I don’t know how they’re doing it. Their technology couldn’t have advanced that quickly.”

     “Have you tried reaching out to Red or Black?”

     “You don’t think I’ve tried?” Keith snapped. “They’re not responding! But oh,” he scoffed, “Only when I’m in danger!”

     Lance’s mind went in a frantic spaz, but he took a deep inhale.

     Shiro was also fond of telling them: _Don’t focus on the problem, focus on the solution._

“Mama. Marisoa,” Lance called out, dropping his hand from Keith’s shoulder and stepping toward them. “Could you guys bring up a blueprint of the United Galactic Headquarters?”

     “No,” Marisoa said. She pointed behind him. “Uncle Gustavo already has a blueprint of the building printed out on the table behind you.”

     Lance spun on his heels toward the island in the center of the kitchen. Uncle Gustavo searched through the piles and stacks of papers. Javier helped him.

     “Ay!” Uncle Gustavo exclaimed. He rolled out the long roll of paper on top of the others. “There!”

     “You printed it out? Before this even happened?” Keith asked, raising a brow as he approached the island with Lance.

     Uncle Gustavo winked. He held up a finger to recite his famous line, to which Lance, Javier, and Marisoa chimed in to mock: _“Por la izquierda.”_

Keith blinked. “Huh?”

     “It generally translate to English as _under the table_ ,” Marisoa said. “Uncle Gustavo takes it to a whole new meaning.”

     Keith’s features scrunched and he turned to Lance, even more confused.

     Lance chuckled. “I’ll allow Gustavo to explain.”

     “We say it in secret, as oh, something shady is about to go down, but we avert our eyes, we look the other way,” Uncle Gustavo dramatically explained with his animated gestures. “But for me, it means always be prepared for something shady to go down at any time!”

     “Soooo...” Keith drawled out, even more confused. “Why not say: prepare for the worse?”

     Uncle Gustavo glared at him. “Te sueno la cara.”

     Lance stepped forward, hands out in a placating manner as he placed himself between Keith and Uncle Gustavo. “Okay, let’s see these plans, eh?”

     They leaned forward, studying the blueprint of the building.

     “They’re being held here,” Keith said, pointing to a section on the second floor.

     Lance’s eyes roamed over the outline of the ocean coast, an idea formulating. “Is there a blueprint for the underground?”

     Gustavo pulled out a second sheet from under the first.

     Lance found what he was looking for and beamed up at Keith. “Garbage mashers.”

     “What?” Keith asked in disbelief.

     Lance sighed dramatically. How could Keith not get this? They’ve used this plan multiple times. “Star Wars?”

     Keith smirked. “You want to go up the sewers?”

     “There’s an entrance to the sewer by the ocean. We could take Blue, fly underwater undetected, sneak in through the sewer, we could cut a hole into the laundry room on the basement level, which is directly below the room they’re being held in.”

     “What makes you think Blue will come if Red and Black aren’t coming?” Keith challenged.

     Lance chuckled. “Blue and I go way back, Keith. I’m still her favorite Paladin.”

     Keith scoffed, yet a fond look bloomed on his features. “This could work, ninja sharpshooter. We could contact Shiro and the others when Blue comes.”

     “Only...” Lance glanced around the shed. He wasn’t going to have Blue come with the Garrison close by, unless...

     He turned to Javier. “Please tell me you guys have a secret tunnel to the house.”

     His family all plastered on that cocky Alvarez smirk.

     Yep. Why did he even ask?

* * *

 

     It took them nearly fifteen minutes to get to the house. Lance stood in the backyard, with his family standing on the porch. Keith stood on the porch’s stairs, tapping the side of his thigh impatiently.

     Lance inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stretched out his feelings, his energy, and found that source that reminded Lance of the ocean, soft and calm on a beautiful day, yet underneath a promise of dangerous waves and storms.

     _Hey, Blue. I need your help. Keith and I need your help._

He felt Blue’s energy perk and immediately reach out to him like a mother would a child. He jerked as he felt a prick of energy surge through him and he allowed Blue to search his memories, his feelings, to read his plans and ideas. He gave everything over to her. He trusted her.

     He felt a slight smack on the back of his head.

_Another Star Wars plan?_ she teased.

     Lance grinned. _What do you say, girl? Wanna make this a night to remember?_

_Oh, you know how to sweep me off my paws, Lancey-Lance,_ she teased. _I’ll be sure to avoid the Garrison troops on your beach._

Lance almost forgot about that. _Wait! Can you ask Shiro to take the Black Lion and put the fear of God into them? He can distract them._

_With pleasure,_ she purred. _We’ll be there soon._

Lance opened his eyes and blinked as the world around him spun for a moment. Keith steadied him.

     “Well?”  
     “Relax, Samurai. She’s coming.”

     Keith didn’t relax. He remained tensed as a board.

     Lance patted his back and headed toward his family. “Thanks for the help, guys. I promise, I’ll be back in a jiff.”

     “Kick some butt,” Marisoa said.

     “Bring me back a souvenir,” Gustavo joked.

     Mama scooped him into a hug. “Be careful, mi hijo.”

     Lance squeezed her back, absorbing all the ounce of love she poured into him. “I will.”

     He stepped back and regarded Javier, who stepped down toward him. “Javier,” he started. “I...”

     “Spare me. I’m coming with you.”

     “What?!” everyone but Lance exclaimed.

     “No!” Mama said. “It’s too dangerous.”

     “We’re not taking any non-essential weight,” Keith snapped.

     Lance and Javier stared at each other. He looked into his brother’s eyes and saw a need for understanding, a need for this moment.

     He reached out a hand. “Stick close to me, Merman.”

     Javier grinned.

     “Javier!” Mama yelled.

     “Don’t worry, Mama,” Lance said. “I’ll get him back in one piece. It’ll be like a ride-a-long for him.”

     Both Lance and Javier gave her a thumbs-up.

     She sighed, knowing she couldn’t argue or convince Javier to stay. She waved a sharp finger in their faces. “Be back in time for breakfast, you hear me?”

     “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Lance said.

     Only ten minutes passed before Lance felt Blue’s energy approach them like an oncoming ocean wave. She moved quietly and landed in Lance’s backyard with gentle ease.

     Mama, Marisoa, Uncle Gustavo and Javier all stared up at the Blue Lion with various expression of awe. Blue leaned forward, almost taking down the strings of lights, and opened her jaw.

     Lance brushed his nose with his thumb. “Come on, Keith. Let’s show the Garrison that they shouldn’t mess with Voltron.”

     Javier approached Lance’s side. “And the Alvarez family,” he added with a smirk.

     Lance grinned. He pointed to Javier and Keith. “I say Vol, you say...?”

     Javier rolled his eyes with amusement. “Tron!” at the same time that Keith groaned out: “Voltron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sigh. Oh, Keith. You'll never learn <3   
> The final showdown between Voltron and the Garrison is approaching! Woooooo! I promise I'll work my hardest to get the next chapter up within the next two weeks! This is shaping up to be such a fun family reunion!!! Ahem. Except for maybe the hostage situation, and the Garrison...ay, what's life without a little danger?
> 
> Translations:  
> Te sueno la cara: I hit you in the face.  
> ¿Qué clase de idiota estúpido está a cargo de la Garrison?: What kind of stupid moron is in charge of the Garrison?


End file.
